The invention relates to a process for testing cigarettes and separating out defective cigarettes, the test being carried out in the region of magazine shafts of a cigarette magazine by a test unit which can be advanced to the ends of the cigarettes, and defective cigarettes being separated out in succession, whereas intact cigarettes are pushed out in groups (cigarette groups) at the bottom end of the magazine shafts (main pushing-out plane).
The necessary testing of cigarettes to ensure that they are correctly formed is carried out in conjunction with the packaging operation. The test is conducted by suitable mechanical or optoelectronic test units. Hitherto, these have mainly been used in a region in which cigarette groups are already formed for packaging within a packaging machine. Any defective cigarettes detected means that the entire cigarette group has to be separated out.